The Conversation Continues....

I know you wouldn't feel "complete" without a last blog for our class! So, in watching "NBC Nightly News" tonight, I noticed a story about how French lawmakers are concerned over the image photographs of "perfect" female models ingrains in young women. The link to the clip is below:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#34265345

Let us all know what you think after watching the clip.

You may notice that the title of this blog is "The Conversation Continues..." I know that many of you (as expressed both in class today and at other times) have enjoyed our discussions on-line. While it may not be every day or every week, I do hope that we will keep the conversation going about contemporary issues that arise involving race, gender, and class in the media. I'll try to post occassionally, so check back, and also please send me ideas and/or complete blogs that I can post. In other words, to the extent that you can and want to do so, keep following the conversation, not for a grade (obviously), but out of interest.

Again, I want to reiterate how much I have enjoyed having each and every one of you as co-learners in what has been a rare, perhaps even unique, open forum on an important topic for us--as journalists and as citizens. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:30 will always remind me of our class and each of you.

All the very best,
Dr. Silvia

Having Your Say

I've always believed that the best learning doesn't result from looking for the "right" answers, but posing the important questions.
Since this is the last class blog, and I have been posing all the questions all semester, I thought it only fitting that you have your turn. Specifically, we are going to be discussing the article by LynNell Hancock titled "The Haves and the Have-Nots." As with a number of the readings we've had, it is somewhat dated in its content and conclusions, but still makes some valid points about inequalities in media access along race, gender, and class lines.

After reading the article and thinking back on all our discussions this semester, post your own questions for discussion on this topic during Tuesday's class. If you each post just one question (and aren't redundant) we should have a fine basis for bringing to a conclusion what has been, for me (and I hope for you), an energizing semester!

The Digital Divide in Media: An Unlevel Playing Field

An early study (1995), around the inception of the Internet, suggested that "white families are three times more likely to have computers at home than blacks and Latinos." Since then, a great deal of research has been done on what is termed the "digital divide." The digital divide is most commonly defined as the gap between those individuals whohave, and those who do not have, access to on-line information.

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Commerce released "A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use of the Internet," the latest study on computer and Internet use in America. It pointed to U.S. Census data showing that 143 million Americans, or about 54 percent of the population, are using the Internet. It also states that the gap between the have's and have-not's has expanded, with Hispanics (31.8 percent) and African Americans (39.8 percent) lagging behind whites (59.9 percent) in Internet access at home, "suggesting serious ethnic and racial divides". (Dickhard and Schnedier. "The Digital Divide: Where We Are."

Given the above, is there reason to be optimistic that the Internet will help minorities and lower income Americans develop a stronger voice in media?

The Importance of Ethnic Newspapers

In her article on this topic, Jae Chul Shim quotes several noted sociolgists who see ethnic newspapers as serving two primary purposes: "helping newcomers adapt to the cultural values of the host country; the other to help immigrants preserve their ethnic heritage in the new environment." She also suggests that these two fuctions can seem "contradictory." It seems to me that she has a point. Do you agree? Shim also points to Korean newpapers in Los Angeles as examples of how ethnic papers can become an institution within a community by helping bring about positive change. I found myself wondering if such papers can be just as effective if they are owned and operated by people from outside the community as opposed to those who live and work there. What do you think?

Empowerment of Women in New and Old Media

There are two areas in media--one new (the Internet)and the other old (country music)--where women appear either to have found a new "voice" for their interests, beliefs and values or grown in such numbers that their collective "voice" can no longer be ignored by those in power. In the article "A Woman's Place? In Cyberspace," Kris Gensen cites a study suggesting that back in 1995 the on-line user population was roughly 80 per cent men to 20 per cent women. By 1998, that number had been expected to be 62 per cent men to 38 per cent women.

More recently, I found a study from eMarketer estimating that there were 97.2 million female Internet users ages 3 and older in 2007, or 51.7% of the total online population. In 2011, 109.7 million US females will go online, amounting to 51.9% of the total online population (eMarketer.com, March 2007).

So, what began as a male-dominated user medium is trending toward domiance by women. The same could be said about country music; once the near exclusive domain of men, today's biggest country stars are women: Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, even Taylor Swift! As the author of "Women in America: Country Just Ain't What It Used to Be" writes, "country's women...are asserting themselves as never before."

In your opinion, are there similar reasons for the emergence of women in these two very different forms of media expression? If so, what are they? (Note: on the subject of country music, the CMA Awards are on ABC tonight and may provide some insight into why the "message" behind women's music has gained prominence and acceptance).

Diversity in Magazines and Radio

In the two articles we have to read for Tuesday's class, I'm intrigued by what I see as a common theme surrounding how ineffective the magazine industry in America has been in terms of recruiting, promoting, and retaining African-American editors in contrast to how effective another media genre, "Native Radio," has been in creating diversity for a specific population in the United States. Given the poor economic climate for all print media today, is it possible to believe the situation with magazines will improve? If so, what would you suggest? If not, what does this say about the commitment to diversity? Given the same set of conditions for radio, is it likely or unlikely that niche formats serving a specific population can survive? Why or why not?

Advertising to Young Latinos and Women

A great deal is made of advertisers targeting of young Latinos for beer products. The study done by Rodriguez and her co-authors suggests that there was a backlash against beer advertisers for specifically creating their messages for young, Spanish speaking Latino consumers. When you consider this article in relationship to the one titled "The Role of Ethnic Advertising Agencies," it seems to me that one role might be anticipating this kind of backlash. Would you agree or disagree that an advertising agency run by and for people of the same ethnicity could lead to a better outcome for mainstream advertisers?

Latino youth aren't alone in being a desirable market for advertisers. Young women represent the largest group of new smokers in the U.S. Do you see any similarities between the targeting of Latino consumers for beer sales and that of young college age women by tobacco companies?